Heavy handed Decor

Cosy family life remained the aim of mid- Victorians. This still demanded comfortable furnishings such as deep-buttoned chairs, ottomans and chesterfield sofas, but now everything had a heavier look, showed more wood — along the top of seat backs, for example — and bore fancy carving or fretwork. The front legs of the graceful balloon-back chairs were elaborated into carved cabrioles.

Pieces such as cabinets and sideboards were massive and ornately decorated. Precisely detailed images from nature were popular in all design fields. Fabrics, carpets and wallpaper bore huge tropical flowers, ferns or large-leaved plants, or realistic scenes with people in them, even royal portraits. Although impressively executed, the patterns were overwhelming in a room.

Drawing rooms were crammed with easy chairs, ottomans, sofas, settees, pouffes, footstools and confidantes or ‘conversation settees’ on which three or four people sat around a central backrest. The parlour suite was introduced — a matching suite of settee, two armchairs and up to ten ‘parlour chairs‘ (similar to dining chairs but with less upright backs). There would be screens too: cheval screens in the 185os and multi-panel folding screens in the 1860s.

Antique Collector MagazineDrawing-room furniture might also include japanned and gilded papier-mâché chairs, set with mother-of-pearl and perhaps with a romantic landscape painted on the backsplat. Corner whatnots were introduced in this period and often fitted with fretwork rims, mirrors at the back and plush covers on the shelves. House plants were popular — palms, for example, and increasing numbers of aspidistras which also went by the name of `cast-iron plants‘ for their tolerance of dingy rooms and the fumes of gas lamps. Plants were set on wooden, majolica or terracotta stands or on marble-topped console tables. When ferns became the rage in the 1860s, they were displayed on pedestals trimmed with ormolu and circled by a brass gallery.

Setting the Scene for Family Meals

In the dining room, heavy furniture was practical as well as popular. The sturdy table was large to accommodate the numerous family members for meals of five or more courses, and the chairs were robust to survive their lengthy use. The sideboard was a showpiece of current taste, curving in and out at the front, fussy with mouldings, glossily varnished, and with a large back mirror whose curved top frame was intricately carved.

Bone china, usually Sevres-style or flowery Minton, Copeland or Royal Worcester, was needed in abundance — as were drinking glasses. Cut glass went briefly out of style as coloured and engraved glass became the fashion. Ferns were the most popular engraved motifs of the 186os, but the Greek key pattern was also common after John Northwood invented a machine to engrave it in 1865. On the table also were glass dessert dishes, candleholders, fruit baskets and little blue or red salt dishes cased in pierced silver or electroplate. Showy glass or silver centrepieces dangled dishes of nuts and dragees.

The way of serving meals changed in the 185os. Instead of dishes being carved and served on the dining table, carving was done at a side table before servants went around serving the diners. As a result the damask tablecloth, which previously became spattered and was removed before the dessert, now remained clean enough to stay in place throughout the meal. The table offered a new field for dressing up — for example with menu and place cards in china or silver holders, posy pots at each place, and finger bowls set upon fancy doilies on dessert plates.

On the Fringes

The generous use of textiles played a large part in the cluttered style. Apart from the amply swathed curtains, the cloths on tables and pianos, and the braiding, fringing and tassels everywhere, there were pelmet-like hangings on the mantel shelf. Some chimneypieces were dressed like windows with curtains that were opened when the fire was lit. Even the chain of the chandelier and the picture cords might have a fabric cover. All the textiles matched or were coordinated in colour — frequently a wine red or deep green — creating a sumptuous but dark effect. Fireplaces were most often of white marble but mottled green and red marble were also common.

The walls would be dark, probably papered, and covered with a mass of gilt-framed pictures and mirrors above the dado rail. Below the dado the wall might be covered in a tough paper to withstand knocks from furniture, and painted a dark colour such as brown. This paper was often embossed to look like Spanish leather wall hangings and was later sold under various names including Lincrusta and Anaglypta. The ceiling was coloured, as white was thought harsh, and in any case would have been discoloured by gas lighting or by the new forms of petroleum lamp. The doors might be painted a deep reddish-brown and grained to imitate mahogany.

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